It’s July. We’ve entered the second half of the year. Time flies fast, huh?

We’re back (we’re back [think Tiffany-and-Jessica style from their commercial for Global SM Auditions]) for another round of Soshified Spotlight, and we have two amazing people who have been highly involved with Soshified projects featured this month. In this edition, we’re featuring camiiseta (Cami) and taeyeonsheart (Cyrus). Taeyeonsheart is featured in Part 2. In this article, we get to know Cami, a college student from Orange County who has gotten to do some very cool stuff as a SONE. A Sunshiner just about as energetic as Sunny herself, Cami has helped organize quite a few Sunny-related projects, including a huge Sunny-related birthday project this year. Cami also has a wide degree of interests, and as aptly put by nominator and fellow writer michaelroni, “She’s cool.” Without further ado, let’s meet Cami.

What is your first name?
Cami :{D

How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?
I found out about it through a couple of online friends of mine who kept going on about soshi for a few days until I finally asked what soshi was and they directed me to soshified.com. I’m the type who signs up for anything and everything in case it’ll benefit me in the future, and…. Signing up for Soshified definitely did!

How did you come up with your screen name?
Camiiseta has been a nickname of mine since high school Spanish class, just a pun off my name… Cami hehehehhe. I tried to make ‘camiseta’ my sn on AIM but it was taken so I added the extra ‘I’ and never dropped it. It’s Spanish for “t-shirt,” by the way!!! It’s not a pun off of “mamicita!” >:C A lot of people don’t seem to know that and wonder why I have a t-shirt in my watermark haha.

Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)?
I was born in Manila, Philippines; but lived there for under a year before I moved to the Middle East. I actually lived there during the same time as Sunny! And when I was 7 years old, I came to Orange County, CA! SoCal baaaby! (:

If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?
Disneyland!!!!!! I used to work in California Adventure so I’d be able to take you around the park and know where we’re going. Disneyland… is Disneyland, how could you want to go anywhere else?? We could meet Mickey and eat churros… and and you could hold my hand while we go on the scary rides. ;D

Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?
I’m a full-time college student and mostly go out to club or bars with my friends, have parties at my house, noraebang, or go out to eat. I can hold my own in drinking and have a secret, or not-so-secret, dream to drink with the soshi girls hahaha. Especially Sunny, Yoong, Fany, & Hyo since they’re the drinkers of the group. The closest I’ve come is drinking in the same club with them at the SM Town afterparty, though they were in another room. T~T I also spend a lot of my time spazzing on skype and twitter(http://twitter.com/camiiseta) about soshi. Quick shoutout to my hawmies on Skype who ship Ace Family with me, as well as my other Skype Family! And to 내 찌찌뽕언니!

What’s the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?
Since becoming a sone, there have been A LOT of interesting things that have happened to me and I’ve met a lot of wonderful people. The two most interesting moments would have to be first going to Korea and meeting DJ Isak from Arirang Radio and MCing the SNSD fanmeet in LA. It was great being able to say I worked with SM for the fanmeet, and even got to meet and work with the unnie of a certain favorite SNSD member of mine.

Video from my visit to Isak where I got her to do a shoutout for Soshified.

Cami with DJ Isak when visiting Arirang Radio in 2009.

Cami at the SM Entertainment office with an SM Entertainment representative and co-MC Sherman during preparations for the Girls’ Generation Fanmeet in Los Angeles.

Cami: “All of the wonderful staff and volunteers during the Girls’ Generation fanmeet I emceed. Thanks again for your hard work, everybody!”

How did you get to meet Isak and MC the LA fanmeet and work with SM? Could you share a brief fan account for both events?
I’ve been a long time listener of DJ Isak’s Mid Day Break and constantly talked to her through the messenger board. She came to know me and I asked if I could come visit her in the studio since I was going to be in Korea with my friends, and she said she would love if I came and visited. She was overly nice, telling me about her recent calls to Tiffany, giving me advice of how to get into music shows, and even gave me her number so we could go out to dinner. I have a couple of videos on my channel entitled “Meeting Isak” if you’re interested.’

For MCing the LA fanmeet, SM was asking Soshified to have people audition by video for the MC position. I hadn’t initially wanted to send in a video, but fellow sunshiner Sarah recommended me to the staff to send one in. And so, I did and ended up being chosen by SM along with Sherman to be the MC.

My video audition… so embarrassing *^^*

The fanmeet itself was a lot of fun, it was great hanging out with sones. I had a lot of fun showing off my sunshiner pride and watching SNSD videos on a movie screen, hearing the laughter and spazzing of fellow sones live was great.

For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?
Ah… I’m a fun-loving person who goes out of my way to gain a smile or laughter from others. I am deeply infatuated with making others happy and in turn am one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. It’s both my biggest strength and flaw. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not the type to sit around quietly if there is an injustice!!! If you ever have the chance to meet me in person, which many sones have, you’ll find I’m a very outgoing person and won’t give you the chance to feel nervous or shy around me. I may be outspoken, a bit loud, and hyper at times, but no one seems to mind!

Tell us some things that most people don’t know about you that you think they should.
Haha this is going to be a bit silly, but I want to confess my love affair with lime. A lot of my online friends don’t know, but I am infatuated with lime. My friends still stare at me in awe when I eat lime slices leisurely. I can basically put lime on anything I eat! ANYTHING! Lime/citrus flavors are my favorite for candy, and my most hated flavor is cherry. I hate real cherries and anything cherry flavored. BLECH! I’m also a pretty big notebook, stationary, and office supply junky. I love going to stores and staring at the different notebooks, pens, & mechanical pencils. -____-;;;; Yeah, I know I’m a geek. I am also a pretty big video game nerd, not as big as I used to be when I was younger… but let’s say I had a crush on Cloud Strife when I was in middle school. Oh by the way, Sunny… I CHALLENGE THEE TO A TETRIS DUEL!!! Another thing I just want to get out there, is that I’m not as big of a byuntae as you all make me out to be!!! >:C Also, not many people know but my first bias for a short time was Hyo, then on to Tiffany after I watched Girls Go To School when I realized she was an English-speaking SoCal girl like me. But I soon moved on to my current love… You’ll read about it in a later question hehehe. One last thing, I like a wide range of music aside from K-pop from Hip-Hop, to unst unst, to even jazz.

Is there anything big in your life that you’re working on? (This can be related to school, career, hobbies, family, friends, etc.)
Right now I’m just focusing on graduating with my BA in Psychology at Cal State Long Beach while having fun! Just your average college student.

Do you have any plans for after you graduate college?
Right now my concentration is in clinical psychology, but I’m not entirely sure yet which direction I want to take. It may sound overly cheesy, but the only thing I’m sure of is that I want a job helping people. I may be going to grad school afterward, so I’ll be in school forever and more.

What are your interests outside of Girls’ Generation?
Is that even possible? Haha, I’m a fan of other kpop groups as well. My other classification would be a hottest. Nichkhun is my husband, just letting all you ladies know. Lately I’ve also been really into Rainbow, with my bias being Jisook. She’s so adorable! I also watch a lot of American TV shows; recently I’ve been watching shows like How I Met Your Mother, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Entourage, Weeds, Love Bites, Wilfred. Of course I loved shows like Sex and the City, Friends, Scrubs, Futurama, and old shows like I Love Lucy, Happy Days, etc. etc. Yeah, I watch a lot of TV @_@

How did you first become a fan of Girls’ Generation?
A few online friends of mine started talking about SNSD, so I asked my best friend who’s Korean who they were and she started linking me to videos and loving that I was getting interested in them. She’s been a fan since pre-debut, but now she’s thoroughly annoyed with how obsessed with them I am. ;;;; One of the first “soshi” videos I watched was Hyoyeon’s dance to Anonymous and I thought it was really sexy so I went on to watch more videos, came across Gee, and I was hooked to SNSD.

Who is your favorite member and why?
If you know anything about me, you would know that I am a sunshiner. Being a sunshiner definitely defines myself as a sone. I’ve been asked this question a few times, and every time I have written an answer with the length that could rival that of an essay. But I’ll try to keep it short and simple here. Sunny is not only my favorite member from SNSD, but my favorite as simply a person. For me, I don’t fall for people due to outside appearances, but rather personality and who that person is. Sunny is one of the most incredible people I’ve come to even know, even if it’s from afar. Every day, I find myself being more infatuated with her. In my mind, there literally isn’t anything she can’t do. In so many ways, I find similarities between her and I: the ability to make people laugh, being incredibly short, being overly helpful to others, love for sneakers, video game nerd, good drinker(hehehe), etc. etc. But it’s the differences in us that make me fall for her. She’s has such intelligence for life and how people work, how people think, that it scares me sometimes. She understands things way too much. She is extremely talented in everything she does, and isn’t afraid to get down and dirty. She has physical strength and mental strength and seems to excel at everything she does. She has proven it countless times on shows like Invincible Youth, Hello Baby, Horror Movie Factory, and even shows like the dance special where she totally dominated with wrestling! She has an amazing stage presence, singing voice, and the incredible ability to make me laugh and brighten up my day. Also want to say that my love for her all started with this vid:

“Bery gud, yo!”

When was the moment that you realized you were a Sunshiner?
I don’t think I can say there is a definite moment when I realized I was a Sunshiner, because as soon as I saw that ‘hip hop boy’ act of hers, I was already in love. But even to this day, as I watch Sunny more I gain even more admiration for her than I already have. I am literally amazed at how much more amazing she continues to prove herself to be. sunny y u so perfect T~T

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation song and MV and why?
This is such a hard question! I want to say that Into The New World is not allowed to count in my ranking, because it will always have a place in my heart. I still get chills every time the beginning notes of ITNW plays. Other than that, Gee was my favorite song for the longest time because it was what first got me into them and I was legitimately addicted to it. I couldn’t go a day without listening to the song at least once. But Run Devil Run soon took its place because of how much it spoke to us girls, especially after a song dedicated to their oppas! The teaser for RDR is still my favorite teaser because of how excited it got me. But lately, The Great Escape from their Japanese album has got me addicted. It’s such a different song coming from SNSD, and the beats & bass have got me entranced. Not to mention their wonderful, wonderful performance. *^* Haha, did I cheat with that answer? :b

Haha, no, you didn’t cheat with that answer. I’m sure a lot of SONEs feel the
same as you. But why do you think “Into the New World” shouldn’t count in your ranking? I think because it has a special place in your heart is a very good reason for it to do so.
ITNW shouldn’t count in my ranking because it’s such a meaningful song for any sone. It’s where the girls got their beginning. It’s where the girls where still unsure of whether or not they would even be popular, much different to now when they know they have obvious dominance in the music industry. The song just feels the root of who the girls are and how they worked hard to be where they are now.

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation moment?
It might be a touchy subject, but one of my favorite moments has to be during KJE’s Chocolate when Fany mustered up the courage to speak out publicly about her mother. Seeing how every one of the girls broke down and bawled their eyes out shows the complete love all of the girls share for each other, taking care of each other and wiping each other’s tears. It shows how much the girls really do share each other’s joys as well as their pains. I really can’t get through watching that show without crying myself, especially seeing the emotions on the girl’s faces as if they’ve been holding back these tears for so long.

How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?
My life has been greatly affected by being a sone. When first getting into this fandom, I never imagined that it take me as far as it has. I’ve been on Korean television and newspapers a few times, MCed a fanmeet in LA with SM, gone to so many concerts, and most of all met so many different people from around the world. I can say I have friends from places like Australia, Singapore, Korea, China, etc. because of being a sone. I’ve met tons and tons of great, kind, and helpful people along this journey and made many great friends that extend beyond being a sone.

How did you end up on Korean television and in newspapers? And which concerts have you gone to? That must’ve been some undertaking, getting to do all that.
I ended up in Korean television and newspapers simply because I volunteered at the Soshified meet-up before SM Town LA face painting. I had to paint things like “써니 짱” on people’s arms or faces. I tried my best to entertain people and make them laugh while I was painting them so it wouldn’t be awkward having a stranger paint “소녀시대” on your face haha. Anyways, News cameras came to this event and blah blah blah. Same thing basically happened when I MCed the fanmeet in LA.

I’ve gone to a lot of concerts, including SM Town LA, Hollywood Bowl. I’m usually more willing to attend the concerts that include the people I really like so I haven’t been to TOO many.

I’m not sure what you mean by undertaking, hahahaha but I don’t really consider all of that stuff overly special. I just find myself lucky to be able to do all of this stuff. (:

What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?
I definitely need to give props to SoshiSubs, because I probably wouldn’t be a sone without them. They are constantly working hard to provide us with subs, and I’m eternally grateful for them. THANK YOU SOSHI SUBS! SOSHI SUBS 화이탱!

Is there anything else about you that you would like to add?
Am I allowed to shamelessly plug myself? Hahahaha! I make some gifs over at http://camiiseta.tumblr.com and also run another tumblr for my favorite pairing, dandyu http://danshinduo.com ! :B I want to give a big shoutout to Sunshine Village (http://19890515.com) for helping me becoming a better sunshiner and being a great source for anything Sunny related. YAY SUNSHINERS! Also, thanks to michaelroni for nominating me for this! Thank you to everyone in this sone fandom I’ve come across! And thank you to all of the hardworking sones out there who run websites, make gifs, make videos, upload videos, or those who contribute anything to this crazy sone world we live in!

Huge thanks goes out to Cami for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement.

Compiled by: [email protected]
Photographs and Audition Video by: [email protected]
Graphic by: [email protected]

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